Administration Interaction Selling your program to your administrator
Find the win: win If your administrator is to welcome this program, he or she must see a benefit from it. It helps if the administration places technical competency high on the list of district priorities and is willing to stretch to make it happen. Fortunately, many administrators, evidenced by the fact that you are in this coaching program, are already in or close to that frame of mind. Susanne Pyle says, "Jean, Cindy and I were pretty lucky in that we had an administrator that wanted more staff to incorporate technology into their curriculum." Maureen McCauley "... had administration support for tech integration even before the peer tech program began." For the administrators that aren’t, your first job is to obtain their backing. Without it, you face an uphill slog piled high with gooey apathy. The best way to get their buy-in is to give them something they want. For most school administrators, this often comes down to three things: Student achievement, attendance, or money. The trick then is to lead the administration to believe, as fervently as do you, that technology coaching will deliver these things. The big "Aha" is that from the administrator’s viewpoint, these things may look very different than they do from your perspective. The differences in perspective can be so large you may not even recognize that what the administrator asks stems from these goals. Fortunately, there is an easy way to not have to figure this out: Do whatever the administration wants. In our coaching team’s experience, several administrators asked that a particular individual be coached. Lori Hare said, "My administrator asked me to provide support for another person. I did that and everyone was happy."
If you encounter such a request, say yes. When the coaches did this, the administration became more supportive. Whatever the administrator wants, say yes, and then find a way to do it. Quickly. One of our big coaching successes came when the administration forwarded an email from a teacher asking for additional Smartboard training. That SAME DAY, we set up 4 classes at various times to ensure all teachers had access to our training. After we executed the training classes, we wrote a short report to the administration stating who attended and what they learned. We then followed through with a second round of training (sounds like coaching) to ensure that these teachers were able to apply the technology to their satisfaction in their classroom. Make it Easy for the Administration to Support You. It sounds obvious, but this step usually takes conscious effort to do well. The key here is to: 1) Keep them informed and 2) Don’t take any of their precious time. A way to do both of these at the same time is the traveling hallway conversation. Walk with your administrator during his trip between office and car. If she walks during lunch, walk with her.
Always come to meetings prepared. As stressed during our coaching training, be proactive. Come with suggestions and ideas already put on paper. Don't expect the administration to construct the program for you. Do expect that they may request changes. If their suggestions are the least bit feasible, agree, and find a way to make it happen. Soon you'll have earned their trust and the free rein that comes with it. Generate positive publicity: Besides the verbal updates, write periodic reports of progress. Share your coaching log. Write brief articles for "AZ Schools Demonstrating Success” or for the local paper that your administration can proudly share. Additional sources for your review: Build a School Culture that Nurtures Staff Collaboration Technology Needs Teamwork
Administration Interaction
Selling your program to your administrator
Find the win: win
If your administrator is to welcome this program, he or she must see a benefit from it. It helps if the administration places technical competency high on the list of district priorities and is willing to stretch to make it happen. Fortunately, many administrators, evidenced by the fact that you are in this coaching program, are already in or close to that frame of mind. Susanne Pyle says, "Jean, Cindy and I were pretty lucky in that we had an administrator that wanted more staff to incorporate technology into their curriculum." Maureen McCauley "... had administration support for tech integration even before the peer tech program began." For the administrators that aren’t, your first job is to obtain their backing. Without it, you face an uphill slog piled high with gooey apathy.
The best way to get their buy-in is to give them something they want. For most school administrators, this often comes down to three things: Student achievement, attendance, or money. The trick then is to lead the administration to believe, as fervently as do you, that technology coaching will deliver these things.
The big "Aha" is that from the administrator’s viewpoint, these things may look very different than they do from your perspective. The differences in perspective can be so large you may not even recognize that what the administrator asks stems from these goals. Fortunately, there is an easy way to not have to figure this out: Do whatever the administration wants.
In our coaching team’s experience, several administrators asked that a particular individual be coached. Lori Hare said, "My administrator asked me to provide support for another person. I did that and everyone was happy."
If you encounter such a request, say yes. When the coaches did this, the administration became more supportive. Whatever the administrator wants, say yes, and then find a way to do it. Quickly.
One of our big coaching successes came when the administration forwarded an email from a teacher asking for additional Smartboard training. That SAME DAY, we set up 4 classes at various times to ensure all teachers had access to our training. After we executed the training classes, we wrote a short report to the administration stating who attended and what they learned. We then followed through with a second round of training (sounds like coaching) to ensure that these teachers were able to apply the technology to their satisfaction in their classroom.
Make it Easy for the Administration to Support You.
It sounds obvious, but this step usually takes conscious effort to do well. The key here is to: 1) Keep them informed and 2) Don’t take any of their precious time.
A way to do both of these at the same time is the traveling hallway conversation. Walk with your administrator during his trip between office and car. If she walks during lunch, walk with her.
Always come to meetings prepared. As stressed during our coaching training, be proactive. Come with suggestions and ideas already put on paper. Don't expect the administration to construct the program for you. Do expect that they may request changes. If their suggestions are the least bit feasible, agree, and find a way to make it happen. Soon you'll have earned their trust and the free rein that comes with it.
Generate positive publicity:
Besides the verbal updates, write periodic reports of progress. Share your coaching log. Write brief articles for "AZ Schools Demonstrating Success” or for the local paper that your administration can proudly share.
Additional sources for your review:
Build a School Culture that Nurtures Staff Collaboration
Technology Needs Teamwork